According to the politician, the worsening image of the German Chancellor plays a key role in the loss of popularity by her CDU party.
"At the moment, there is something like a ‘bad Merkel' factor. For the CDU, this factor which has little to do with the fear of the other, racism and xenophobia, but is rather associated with the loss of the rule of law and control, which is not accepted by conservative voters in Germany, is decisive," Lindner told reporters in Berlin.
Earlier, in an interview with WirtschaftsWoche, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that she would no longer say the phrase "We can do it" (Wir schaffen das), which became her main slogan associated with the migration crisis. Some analysts explain this move by the rising pressure on Merkel to change her refugee policy and introduce restrictions on the number of migrants entering the country.
"If the Chancellor and the CDU want to change the situation for us and for our country, the government should change its policy. We expect that the government, at least after the elections in Berlin, will finally adopt the Immigration Control Act and, secondly, present an initiative on the protection of European borders," Lindner said.
Merkel has been repeatedly criticized for her open-door policy toward refugees which resulted in more than one million refugees from the Middle East arriving in Germany last year. Her strategy toward migrants raised serious security concerns and fears of possible terrorist attacks among the German public.
